The Inca festival of the Sun held around the June solstice is called Inti Raymi.
The Quechua name means “Sun festival,” honoring Inti, the Sun deity and one of the most important gods in Inca religion. In the Southern Hemisphere, the June solstice is the winter solstice, when daylight begins lengthening again. The ceremony also marked the Inca New Year.
The imperial festival was associated with Cusco and traditionally took place on June 24. Spanish authorities suppressed it after the conquest, but a reconstructed public ceremony began in 1944 at Sacsayhuamán and remains a major annual celebration in Peru.
A common mix-up is Pachamama, who represents Earth and fertility rather than the Sun. Capac Raymi was another Inca ceremony, associated with a different season and rite, while Qoyllur Rit’i is a distinct Andean pilgrimage and festival.